


Freaks & Geeks

by hannamona (chloebeale)



Category: Pretty Little Liars
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-21
Updated: 2014-08-22
Packaged: 2018-02-14 04:51:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2178609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chloebeale/pseuds/hannamona
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU. Alison never disappeared, Mona was never A. The group falls apart naturally, leaving Hanna desperate for a friend. Enter Mona Vanderwaal, a shy bespectacled girl who knows all too well how painful it is being alone. From a prompt on tumblr.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

After an awful summer at fat camp full of sweat and tears, Hanna was almost looking forward to returning back to school for her sophomore year. Never mind that she didn't have any friends to sit with at lunch, at least she would have something else to focus on besides her unbearable loneliness and her weight problem. At the end of freshman year, Alison and her friends--let's be real, all they ever were to her was a group of lackeys--went their seperate ways. Hanna had never understood what brought them together in the first place. Each of them were from different cliques and would have never been friends had Ali not united them. And ultimately, it was Alison who had torn them down. She'd grown tired of her friends and chose a new group of girls to spend the summer with.

 _Good riddance_ , Hanna thought. Did it hurt? Sure. But at least she wouldn't have to put up with Alison's put downs every time she reached for a pudding cup.

She stood in front of the mirror, glaring at her reflection. Hanna hated every piece of clothing that she owned. She wished she could wear fashionable outfits like her former friends did, but none of those kind of clothes ever seemed to fit her. It seemed as if the only plus size clothes were tacky and unsuitable. She sighed, putting her brown hair in two braids, carefully tying a hair band around the ends.

"Hanna, hurry up, you're going to miss the bus!" Her mother's voice called out from the hallway.

Hanna frowned and grabbed her pink backpack, slinging it over her shoulder and making her way out of her bedroom. Her dad used to drive her to school every day but now she had to take the bus. Since it was just her and her mom, her mother had to work and she didn't have time to drop Hanna off at Rosewood High. Hanna _hated_ the bus. The seats were uncomfortable, it smelled gross and the people on her bus route were mean to her.

"Bye, Mom," Hanna mumbled, walking dejectedly down the stairs.

Maybe this year would be better? That's what she kept telling herself, but she didn't quite believe it.

When she stepped out onto the porch she spotted the yellow school bus about to pass her house. Hanna ran out to the edge of her lawn, yelling and throwing up her hands as she tried to catch the driver's attention. The bus went another ten feet or so before stopping. The doors opened.

Hanna let out a sigh of relief and hurried over to the waiting vehicle. When she entered the bus she heard a few snickers, feeling some of her peers staring at her. She bit back tears and sat down in an empty seat near the back.

"You can sit with me, Hanna..." A familiar voice called out from behind her.

Hanna spun around, recognizing the girl as another sophomore, Mona Vanderwaal. She had her dark hair in pigtails, purple barrettes holding it into place. Hanna smiled widely and moved to sit with her.

"I like your barrettes," she complimented brightly.

"Thank you! I got them last weekend, I have them in like every color..." Mona rambled, twirling her hair around her finger. "Oh, I got the bus driver to stop for you, by the way. Running late this morning?"

Hanna's face flushed slightly at the mention of what had just happened a few moments earlier.

"Yeah, something like that. Thanks for getting him to stop, I would've never caught up to the bus if I'd tried to run after it..." She trailed off, looking at Mona. "I didn't know you knew my name."

"We're in the same class," Mona said matter-of-factly. "Besides, aren't you friends with the most popular girl in school?"

Hanna rolled her eyes. "Not anymore." She gently chewed on her bottom lip. She was feeling guilty because she recognized Mona as one of Alison's favorite punching bags. "I'm sorry I never stood up for you."

Mona shook her head, waving her hands in the air.

"It isn't a big deal. You had your own stuff going on."

"Wait, you know about--"

"Hefty Hanna? Yeah. I'm Loser Mona, remember?" She let out a breath and it was her turn to roll her eyes. "Forget about it. She's just insecure. That's what people like that do to make themselves feel powerful."

Hanna gazed at Mona in surprise. She gave her a little smile.

"You think?"

"It's what my therapist tells me."

Both girls settled into their seats, continuing to chatter on about their interests. It turned out they both loved watching movies and eating junk food, and they made a pinky promise to hang out soon. Both of them entered Rosewood High feeling like maybe they had a chance of having a good year.

It turned out Hanna and Mona had most of their classes together. They walked together in the hallways, talking excitedly to one another. It was as if the rest of the school didn't even exist. They almost didn't notice Alison standing in the hallway glaring at them.

"Aw, Loser Mona found a loser girlfriend," Alison sneered.

"Shut up, Ali." Hanna spat back with every ounce of venom she could produce. She felt pathetic saying it and Alison apparently agreed. She just snorted and walked off.

"Ignore her.." Mona said quietly, looking down at their intertwined hands. "She's just jealous."

"Of what?" The other girl asked uncertainly.

"Of the fact that you found a new friend so quickly. Not everyone can be so lucky. Do you really think those girls she's been hanging out with are her real friends? She probably treats them the same way she treated you. Those poor girls." Mona seemed to know all the right things to say to make Hanna feel better. She appreciated it...a lot. Hanna squeezed Mona's hand and dragged her on to their next class.

At lunch, Mona suggested that they have a sleepover. Hanna answered that she wasn't sure, it was a school night after all and her mom would probably say no. But as Mona talked with her about all the fun things they could do together, Hanna started to feel convinced that a sleepover was a good idea. She took out her cell phone and called her mother at work, hoping she didn't get mad about the phone call.

"Hanna? Is everything okay?" Her mother's voice came through the speaker.

Hanna nodded. "Yeah, mom. I'm having a great day. I was just wondering if maybe I could have a sleepover tonight. My friend Mona wants to stay over."

"You made a new friend?" She sounded surprised. "Well, I guess it would be okay. Make sure her parents say yes first. You don't ever get homework on the first day of school anyway, right?"

"Right. She'll ask her parents. If they say it's okay, she can stay over?"

Hanna's mother laughed, sensing her daughter's excitement. She was thankful that Hanna had made a friend. She had been worried about what this year might be like for her child.

"She can stay over."

"Awesome!" Hanna exclaimed, rubbing her hands together before giving Mona a thumbs up. She said goodbye to her mother and leaned forward. "She said yes. Do you think your parents will be okay with it?"

Mona nodded profusely, a big grin on her lips. "Definitely. Can I use your phone to call my mom?"

Hanna handed her phone over and concentrated on eating her lunch while Mona called her mother to ask if she could stay over. A few minutes passed and then Mona was squealing happily, telling her that she could come over tonight. She would just have to go home for a bit to pack a bag and she'd be over. Overcome with joy at the possibility of having a new friend, Mona hugged Hanna tightly. Hanna thought it was a little weird--she wasn't used to physical affection with friends--but she returned the hug gratefully.

The first day of classes was relatively uneventful. Hanna had run into Emily in the hallway, seeing her conversing with her jock friends. She'd given her a wave but the other girl didn't notice. She spotted Aria in the art room and bit back a hello. It wasn't until she was heading for the bus that she saw Spencer.

"Hey Hanna, how's it going?" Spencer asked, pushing her thick glasses up on the bridge of her nose.

"Oh, okay I guess..." Hanna mumbled back. "Why are you still here? Everyone's going out to get on the bus."

Spencer gave her a smile. "Debate practice." She pointed to the nearby classroom that other nerdy looking people were shuffling into.

Hanna made a face. "Gross. Well, have fun arguing about stuff. You should be good at that since your parents are both lawyers. I gotta go, or I'm gonna miss the bus again." She returned the smile before heading toward the exit doors.

When she made it outside, she pushed through the other students to find her bus. She noticed when she got on that no one laughed at her and Hanna let out a sigh of relief. She met Mona at the back of the bus, accidentally knocking into the other girl's hand. Mona was concentrating hard on whatever she was writing, gripping the gel pen tightly as she wrote in her Lisa Frank notebook.

"Sorry," Hanna muttered.

Mona glanced up and let out a little gasp, closing her notebook quickly and shoving it into her bag with the rest of her stuff. Her face flushed slightly and she looked away.

"...What were you writing about?" The taller girl asked quietly.

Mona turned to look at her, leaning against the bus window.

"Nothing important."

As the bus pulled out of the parking lot, everyone was jerked forward. The school bus turned to the left and Mona went careening into Hanna, practically knocking her into the aisle. She scrambled to get upright again, disentangling herself from the other girl. Mona looked embarrassed but Hanna assured her it wasn't a big deal.

A silence settled over the two girls as they rode the bus. Mona was busy worrying about whether or not Hanna had seen her diary and Hanna was trying to figure out why Mona was acting so strange.


	2. Chapter 2

She didn't have very long to straighten up her room for Mona's arrival. Her new friend lived a couple blocks away and was presumably already packing her bag for tonight. Hanna tried her best to clean up all the candy wrappers, stuffing them in the trash can and shoving some random papers in on top of them. She took down her braids and changed into her pajamas, hoping that Mona didn't think her fuzzy pj pants were lame.

Hanna walked downstairs and stood on her tiptoes, taking a bag of popcorn out of the cabinet and unwrapping it. She placed it in the microwave and put in the proper time, opening up the cabinet again to check what they had to eat while she waited for the popcorn to pop. Hanna pulled out a container of chocolate icing. She got a spoon and scooped a big glob out, sticking it into her mouth with a moan of content. As she washed the chocolate down with some soda she heard a tiny knock at the door. Hanna shoved the container back in the cabinet and deposited the spoon in the sink before making her way over to answer the door.

"Hi!" She said immediately upon opening the door to reveal the smaller girl, who was also clad in pajamas.

"Hey. I like your PJs," Mona told her shyly, stepping in with a colorful canvas bag full of her overnight stuff. "...Something's beeping." She announced when she heard the microwave in the kitchen signaling the popcorn was done.

"Ooh! That's our popcorn. You do like popcorn, right?" Hanna gestured for Mona to follow her in the kitchen and she went to the microwave, opening it up and prying the bag open to let out all the hot air.

Mona nodded, leaning against the counter. She spotted the soda sitting nearby.

"You have soda pop? Can I have some?" She asked suddenly, sounding excited. "I'm not allowed to have soda pop at my house."

"Uh, duh." Hanna beamed, taking a second can out of the fridge and handing it to her friend. "Do you want anything else?"

The other girl hesitated for a moment, twirling her hair around her finger like she had earlier on the bus.

She shrugged. "Do you have any candy...?"

"Yes! In my room, I have like every kind known to man!" Hanna assured her, happy that Mona also liked to eat junk, even if her parents didn't let her. Her mom didn't know about the candy hidden in her dresser either.

Hanna grabbed Mona's free hand and dragged her upstairs. Her mother stopped them momentarily to introduce herself to her daughter's friend. Hanna tried her best not to be embarrassed but was thankful when they could be excused, scurrying into her bedroom and closing the door behind them. She let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding once they made it and she switched on the television, glancing up at Mona from the bed.

"You can sit down, you know." Hanna giggled.

Mona looked embarrassed and she put down her bag, taking a sip of the soda before placing it on the bedside table. She reluctantly climbed onto the bed, which was a small twin size that would barely fit the two of them. Her eyes settled onto the television instead of on Hanna.

"What are we watching?"

"Oh, I don't know. You can pick!" Hanna said politely, handing over the remote.

Mona accepted the remote and started flipping through channels. It seemed like there was nothing on so she left it on a horror movie. She wasn't going to pay attention to it anyway. This was her first sleepover and she wanted to make the most of it. She was most excited to talk to Hanna about anything and everything. Hanna faced her with a smile before leaning forward. She took one of Mona's pigtails in her hands and slowly took off the ponytail holder, releasing the other girl's hair. She did the same for the other one.

"Thanks. Sometimes I forget I have my hair up." She admitted.

"No problem."

"You look really pretty with your hair down, Han." Mona tried out the nickname, wincing at the way it sounded. But Hanna didn't seem bothered by it.

"Really?"

It seemed that neither of them were used to compliments or someone being nice to them. A silence settled over the girls for a moment. Hanna found herself thinking back to earlier on the bus when Mona had acted squirrelly about whatever she'd been writing in her notebook. She was naturally curious and she didn't know if Mona would get offended but she just had to ask again.

Hanna lifted her head and poked Mona in the side with her finger.

"Hey, can I ask you something?"

Shyly, Mona nodded. "Yeah, you can ask me anything."

Taking a handful of popcorn, Hanna started eating it vigorously. She felt Mona's eyes on her, waiting for her to ask whatever it was that was on her mind. Hanna was worried she would get upset but that worry was outweighed by her curiousity. She swallowed.

"What did you write about in your notebook today?"

Mona made a little noise of surprise. She shuffled around anxiously before shoving her hand in the popcorn bag, eating several kernels before she bothered to answer the question.

"I was writing about you."

" _Me?_   Why?"

Hanna hadn't expected that to be the answer. She didn't know why Mona would want to write about her or what she would even have to say. Suddenly she found herself wishing she could read it.

"It's my diary. I write about my life and you're part of it now. Um...do you wanna read it?" Mona offered, her voice trembling a little bit.

Hanna's eyes widened. "You have it with you?"

She nodded, getting up from the bed and making her way over to the bag that was lying on the floor. Mona took the notebook from her bag along with a little plastic container. As she dropped the notebook on the bed she popped open the container to reveal a mouthguard.

"Can you promise me something?" Mona asked, holding the guard in her mouth and meeting Hanna's gaze.

"Probably. What?"

"Don't hate me."

That was a puzzling response. Hanna picked up the notebook and sat it in her lap but didn't make a move to open it yet. Instead she looked at Mona in confusion, wondering what on earth she could've written to make Hanna hate her.

"Why would I...?"

"Just read it." Mona sighed. "And if you want me to leave afterward I will." She popped the guard into her mouth after she turned around.

Hanna hesitantly opened the notebook. She turned to today's entry which was two pages long, as if Mona had written more once she got home. She could feel Mona's eyes on her and her stomach twisted around nervously. She wasn't sure she wanted to read this if it was going to make her hate Mona. Hanna didn't want to lose her only friend.

She looked down at the page and started to read.

_Dear Diary,_

_I finally talked to Hanna today. She remembered who I was and she didn't even laugh at me. We talked on the bus and I think she really wants to be my friend. I never thought someone as cool as Hanna would want to hang out with me. I asked her at lunch if we could have a sleepover and she said yes. I'm so nervous because I've never been to a real sleepover. I don't even know what a sleepover is supposed to be but I just wanted to spend more time with her. I really want her to like me._

_I think I might like her as more than a friend. She is so nice and pretty. But I'm such a dork plus I'm a girl and she wouldn't ever like me back. That's okay though because if I can be her friend then I'm happy. But I have been thinking about what it would be like to kiss her all day. I'm afraid of what this means. I don't want to be a lesbian. Everyone already hates me and thinks I'm weird._

_What if Hanna finds out and never wants to talk to me again? I think that would break my heart. I don't want to lose the only friend I've had since middle school._

_Okay I just got home from school now and I'm about to go over to Hanna's house. I think we are going to have a lot of fun tonight as long as she doesn't decide that I'm weird. I think that we could be great friends. We both know what it is like to feel alone. I don't want to be alone anymore._

_I will write tomorrow about how it goes._

_-M_

When Hanna finished reading she looked up to see Mona sitting on the floor painting her nails with glittery blue polish. She was facing away from her as if scared of her reaction.

Hanna didn't know what to say. No one had ever liked her that way before and she'd never thought about what it would be like to like a girl. But she didn't want to hurt Mona's feelings and she wasn't sure if she liked her that way or not. It was hard to tell the difference between platonic and romantic feelings sometimes.

She tapped Mona on the shoulder. The smaller girl turned around, looking up at Hanna in fear. Hanna offered her a smile and climbed down from the bed, sitting across from her. She took Mona's hands, careful not to touch the wet polish. Hanna leaned down and blew on her fingernails before looking back at her.

"I don't hate you and I don't think you're weird." Hanna finally said after searching for the right words to say.

Mona pursed her lips, raising an eyebrow at her.

"You don't?" She sounded funny with the guard in her mouth and she made a face showing that she was embarrassed by it.

Hanna shook her head. She reached her hand toward Mona's mouth.

"Can I..?"

The other girl opened her mouth and Hanna grabbed the guard, taking it out and placing it on top of the plastic container which was still sitting on the floor.

"Why did you take out my guard?" Mona asked, confused.

Hanna pushed herself forward with her hands and placed a quick kiss on Mona's lips. Her heart was hammering in her chest because she had no idea what she was doing. She had never even kissed anyone before but she felt so overwhelmed with emotion reading what Mona had to say about her that she had to do something. Mona's eyes went wide but she put her arms around her neck and kissed her back, pressing her lips more firmly against Hanna's. They both pulled away with flushed faces and neither of them said anything for a long time.

"You really think I'm pretty?" Hanna's voice was barely audible.

"I think you're beautiful," Mona breathed.

Hanna felt a rush of happiness hearing these words. No one had ever told her she was beautiful before except for her parents. Hearing them from someone else almost made her want to cry.

"How long have you thought that?"

The smaller girl sat up a little straighter, gazing into Hanna's lighter eyes. She licked her lips.

"Since last year. When we were in that group together in Rivera's class. You probably don't even remember but..."

"I remember."

"Okay. So, what does this mean?"

Hanna sighed, leaning against the bed. "I don't know."

**Author's Note:**

> This was intended as a oneshot, but will be a short chapter fic instead.


End file.
